A Simpson County caregiver has been arrested and charged with culpable negligence manslaughter involving the death of a patient, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today.

Rebecca Walker, 56, of Pinola was arrested Wednesday by investigators with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit following indictment by the Simpson County Grand Jury. Walker was indicted for allegedly pushing the victim to the floor during an altercation at a personal care home in Simpson County where Walker worked as a caregiver. The alleged victim was a patient suffering from severe mental health disabilities. The indictment accuses Walker of pinning the victim to the floor and then applying sufficient force to the back of the victim’s neck for enough time so as to cause the victim’s death by asphyxiation.

If convicted, Walker faces up 20 years behind bars. As with all cases, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.